That's right, Google rolled out two new features for Google AdWords, but only allowed a select few to participate. Google maintains that this is done to learn from the beta test and then to adjust from there. So what exactly are the two new Beta Features for Google AdWords?

Cost Per Click Site Targeting

Well the first beta feature was rolled out in mid March. This feature allows you to create cost per click (CPC) site targeted campaigns. This feature is added to the current cost per thousand (CPM) site targeted campaign that you have the option of creating. What's the difference? Well both allow you to hand pick websites within Google's content network where you would like your ad to appear. Both allow you to set a maximum price you are willing to pay. The difference comes into play because the CPM method charges you based on the number of impressions your ad receives, regardless of clicks and the CPC method charges you every time your ad is clicked. You can read more about the site targeting features.

Should I Choose CPC or CPM?

If you are looking for measurable results I suggest testing both the CPM and CPC site targeted campaigns to see which yields the most favorable ROI. The best thing about site targeted campaigns is they allow you to target individual sites within Google's content network as opposed to opting into the entire network when setting up a normal key word targeted campaign. If you were not seeing favorable results when opted into the entire content network, give the site targeted campaigns a try.

Pay Per Action

The other beta test for Google AdWords is the Pay Per Action. This new pricing model, which was rolled out in beta on March 20, 2007, allows you to pay for completed actions that you define. These completed actions could be sales, newsletter or white paper sign ups, leads or even views of a key page. These new Pay Per Action ads are only shown within the content network. The ad formats supported are image and text ads along with the new text link ad format which are brief text link descriptions that re displayed within the content of the chosen site and look like regular hyperlinks. Read more about and sign up for the Pay Per Action model and beta test.

Why Should I Try These New Features?

If you have done all you can to Optimize Your Current PPC Campaigns and have not been able to grow your traffic or increase your conversions, then these two new features can provide you with a new avenue to improve your ROI. Picking individual sites used by your target audience can help increase traffic and conversions, as long as you do it properly.

Labels: PPC Advertising

1) I list this first because it is the most common problem with websites. Duplicate Pages!!! Each page should have only ONE URL. Many database driven web sites will generate multiple URLs for the same page depending on how a user drills down to the page. Search engines pick this up quickly and penalize the pages for duplicate content.

2) AVOID SESSION and USER IDs!!!! Just like #1 mentions, session ids and user ids create duplicate pages. Each time the search engine crawls the site a new session/user id is generated, thus creating many URLs for the same page.

3) Be sure to include text href links in your navigation and content. JAVA, Flash or other non search-engine friendly tech can be used in your navigation, just be sure to also include text links for the search engines. The more these text links are part of your actual navigation the better.

4) Keep your web sites navigation simple. Be sure to also keep your navigation consistent across the entire website. Your web site's navigational structure also ties directly into Google Sitelinks. Google will analyze a web sites link structure when crawling and watch for shortcuts to information users most likely are looking for. Then add Sitelinks to the search results.

5)Create a Site Map or multiple Site Maps. If your web site is considerably large, create multiple Site Maps that are interlinked and categorized.

6) Visible content. Search engines LOVE content. Don't bury your valuable content in Flash or JavaScript. Use visible text and use links within that text to assist the search engines in finding your most valuable pages.

7) Assign unique relevant page specific meta-tags. If you are developing a new website or looking at a CMS, double check that you will have the ability to assign page specific meta-tags, specifically titles.

8) Breadcrumbs. Users find breadcrumbs extremely helpful when navigating a site. For search engines they provide yet again more text links, so they are a plus. However, be careful when creating your breadcrumbs that you do not end up with back to back links.

9) If your website has a Calendar or other dynamically driven application that could result in an infinite loop, place a no index, no follow tag on the page, or block that page using a robots.txt file.

10) View your site through a text based browser such as Lynx. With no images, JAVA or other technologies, you are able to see what the search engines can see. Therefore you'll know if they can read your text and follow your links.

Labels: Organic SEO

The Wall Street Journal published an article on the woes of Topix.net switching to Topix.com. The article highlights the struggles and loss of positions on Search Engines after the switch occurred.

The WSJ article makes many important points. The most important point, and it was not said by the WSJ, is that the Web marketers that they quoted do not know why their sites gain and then lose search positions.

Here are the points as I see them.

1. Search engines can make businesses thrive.

2. Search algorithms change and can really hurt those businesses that depend on Google. These two points are not disputed.

3. Topix.net lost Google search positions when it switched to Topix.com. The loss is due to quirky Google rules. Topix.com did not follow those publicly known quirky rules. They did not align their domains or follow other guidelines, and Google positions fell.

4. Yes, it is frustrating that online chat boards are how you get natural SEO support from Google. At least there is that support. For years the search engines did not respond to the SEO community. Google started the dialogue. It's far from perfect, but better than dealing with Yahoo through the years. With Google we do know what is important and what is not.

5. If Marchex runs 200,000 sites like www.bayareahotels.com then they should worry about losing Google search positions. It is a site full of ad links and it is not properly optimized. The interior pages are redundant. The Marchex SEO strategy is exactly what Google is trying to clean out of its top search pages for competitive phrases. The Marchex Chief Strategy Officer should follow his own advice and build strong content.

Labels: Organic SEO

Well first off lets discuss what click fraud is. Click fraud happens in Pay Per Click advertising when a person, computer or automated script clicks on an ad for the purpose of generating revenue without having any interest in the actual ad. Huh? Well basically someone displays your Pay Per Click ads on their website and they figure out ways of clicking on those ads, in turn generating money for themselves, without search engines realizing the clicks were fraudulent. Or to put it in even more basic terms, someone is scamming the money you are using for Pay Per Click advertising.

Well Should You Be Afraid?

Yes, you should definitely worry about click fraud, it does happen and the major pay per click search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo) have finally admitted this. Funny, all it took was a lawsuit against Google and one against Yahoo and now they are being proactive about disclosing click fraud data.

What Are Search Engines Doing About Click Fraud?

Google recently released information about Invalid Clicks saying that less than 10% of all pay per click traffic is fraudulent. However, they state that they do know about this fraud so they refund the advertisers this money, in most cases before the advertiser is even charged for the click. Google also refunds you even if you have been charged for fraudulent clicks. Most advertisers don't know this is even happening, but if you open up your Google AdWords account and check your billing summary you might notice something on your statement that looks like this - "Adjustment ? Click Quality". This is just Google's way of saying; hey we are looking out for you, here is some of your money back. However, Google also states that about.02% of click fraud does go completely undetected.

What Does This 0.2% Mean to Me?

Well do the math. If you spend $1,000 a month for 12 months this equates to $240 a year that goes to fraudulent clicks. If you spend $5,000 a month for 12 months this equates to $1,200 a year that goes to fraudulent clicks. And this is just assuming that Google really only misses .02% of all fraudulent clicks. You get the picture. Put in your yearly spend and multiply by .02% and this is an estimate of how much you are giving away to fraudulent clicks.

What Can I Do About It?

Well, you are not going to avoid click fraud all together but if you want to advertise via the Pay Per Click model you are going to have to learn to live with some fraud. There is one basic principle to help combat click fraud. Watch your traffic like a hawk. Look for sudden spikes in activity or other suspicious activity. Take full advantage of the reporting software that the Pay Per Click Engines provide and look at your reports daily. Better yet, utilize some third party reporting software or get your log files from your webmaster. If you believe you have been a victim of Click Fraud, contact your account representative immediately.

Now What?

If you don't have the time or ability to recognize click fraud, then you should think about acquiring a PPC Management and Optimization firm or specialist to look after your interests. Not only will they be able to recognize suspicious activity, they will know how and whom to report it to. On top of that they should also be able to help you achieve a better overall return on investment for your Pay Per Click campaigns.

Labels: PPC Advertising